But your original comment about "people who have made something of their lives" goes beyond this; it has echoes of the social darwinist tendency to contrast the feckless masses and the deserving rich...Strontium Dog wrote:I think there is, at least, a modest link between talent/hard work and achievement. I don't consider this to be especially controversial.pErvin wrote:Sounds like you think you live in a meritocracy. How quaint.Strontium Dog wrote:people who have made something of their lives,

The reality is that the wealth and attainments of the family you are born into have a massive, self-perpetuating effect on your future prospects. One can always come up with the odd rags-to-riches story, where hard work has catapulted someone to a better life, but these, on the main, are statistical anomalies, only useful as pious platitudes to keep the masses with their noses to the grindstone with hope, as they touch their forelocks to the real masters...